Prahlad Patel, Union Culture Minister, today announced that all Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments will allow public visitors from July 6, Monday. Patel shared a tweet to publicly announce the decision about reopening of sites.
In the first week of June, the Ministry of Culture had reopened 820 monuments out of the 3000 ASI-protected heritage buildings for hosting religious events. As the nation-wide lockdown was enforced in the last week of March 2020, more than 3500 monuments and archaeological sites under ASI protection were closed for public.
Reportedly, as the sites are now set to reopen, the Union Health Ministry has mandated that all the hygiene and social distancing rules shall be followed by the monument officials.
A leading daily reported that it would be compulsory for visitors to wear masks while visiting such sites. The state and district administration would ensure complete compliance of the norms issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the health ministry.
In addition, the number of visitors will be capped by the authorities to minimise the crowd at such public places. Of the monuments in India that attract a large number of visitors are the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar etc.